This invention relates generally to the field of shampoo or rinsing bowls used to capture and remove fluids in a hair shampooing or treatment situation, such as the bowls commonly found in hair and beauty salons. More particularly, the invention relates to such bowls where the person being attended is in a generally reclined position with the head suspended over the bowl, where the bowl is provided with two distinct support members which support the person at the neck and at a point beneath the junction of the neck and torso. The invention also relates to such bowls which are mounted onto a support pedestal in such a manner that the bowl can be raised and tilted.
It is common practice in hair and beauty salons to shampoo a person's hair prior to cutting. It is also common to provide various treatments which require application of substances followed by a rinsing of the substances from the hair. Shampoo bowls having a water source, a large bowl or basin, and a drain are typically provided with a recess in the forward perimeter of the bowl which receives and cradles a person's neck so that the head is suspended over the bowl with sufficient room for the technician to undertake the necessary treatment steps on the person's hair. The recess is generally somewhat U-shaped so as to encircle a portion of the neck to block water or other fluids from splashing or flowing out of the basin and onto the person. This design tends to be relatively uncomfortable, since the neck is supported at only one point and the neck recess serves as a fulcrum between the unsupported shoulders and the head, requiring the technician to help support the head during the treatment to minimize discomfort to the person being treated. When the head is not supported, the weight of the head causes uncomfortable pressure at the single point of support, which usually results in the person tensing the neck muscles to raise the head slightly to alleviate the pressure. Additionally, the U-shaped recess is typically too narrow for larger people.
Most shampoo bowls are also fixed at a single height most appropriate for an "average" technician, meaning that variations in the height of the person being treated and similar variations relative to the technician are not taken into account. In addition, since the bowl cannot be moved, the technician must raise and lower the person's head with one hand to perform various operations, such as thoroughly rinsing shampoo from the entire head, meaning that the technician has only one free hand to perform the operation.
It is an object to provide an improved shampoo or rinsing bowl which provides better and more comfortable support to the person being treated, as well as providing the technician with better accessibility. It is a further object to provide such an improved shampoo bowl by creating a bowl having two separate support members, a first neck support bridging member which supports the neck in the area of the 6th vertebra and a second support recess member which supports the torso at the point slightly below where the neck joins the torso and shoulders in the area of the 8th vertebra, such that the head of the person is suspended over the bowl while supported in two places rather than one. It is a further object to provide such a bowl where the bowl height and tilt angle are adjustable, where the bowl is mounted on a pedestal having hydraulic, mechanical, pneumatic or other means to raise and tilt the bowl, where the raising and tilting are preferably independently controlled.